Mountain Zebra National Park: Cheetah re-collared to continue tracking efforts
South African National Parks (SANParks) has announced that cheetah conservation in Mountain Zebra National Park (MZNP) outside Cradock in South Africa's Eastern Cape got a welcomed boost.
A new cheetah collar was donated to the National Park, which was fitted to one of the MZNP's resident females. The collar fitted previously was about to reach the end of its life span.
Mountain Zebra National Park is currently home to eight cheetahs. Of these, four are collared. The National Park is the only one in South Africa offering a cheetah tracking activity, and these cheetahs are the ones which are sought out by activity guides through the use of a VHF (very high frequency) telemetry device.
If guests are lucky enough, they could get to within 40 metres of one or more cheetah in their natural habitat. They also help MZNP's Management gather ecological data for research purposes which help in the management of the species.
Cheetahs were reintroduced to Mountain Zebra National Park in 2007 after being absent from the plains of the Karoo for 130 years.
